Diptera Tipulidae: India

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This is an extract from ANIMAL RESOURCES OF INDIA: Protozoa to Mammalia State of the Art. Zoological Survey of India, 1991. By Professor Mohammad Shamim Jairajpuri Director, Zoological Survey of India and his team of devoted scientists. The said book is an enlarged, updated version of The State of Art Report: Zoology Edited by Dr. T. N. Ananthakrishnan, Director, Zoological Survey of India in 1980.

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Diptera Tipulidae

Introduction

The family Tipulidae, popularly known as crane flies or daddy long-legs, is the largest in order Diptera as presently known. The adults are free living. Their larvae live among decaying vegetation, grass, roots, etc., or are aquatic. The larva of Dicranota lives in ponds and streams and preys upon the wonn TUbifex. The larvae of Cylindrotomina group are acquatic or terrestrial and feed upon mosses or angiosperms. Among Limnobiinae the larvae of some Limnobia are fungivorous. A species of Dicranomyia is leaf mining in Hawaiian Islands, and that of Tipula oleracea. L. is a serious pest in meadows in Europe.

Members of the family Tipulidae can be recognised by the 'long six or more segmented antennae, absence of ocelli, mosotergum with a V -shaped transverse suture, ~ong and slender legs, presence of discal cell, and valvular, ho~y ovipositor. The tipulids include some of the largest species ofNematocera.

Historical Resume

Till the early part of 20th century, Tipulidae was considered as a family with three subfamilies under it, viz., Ptychopterinae, Tipulinae and Limnobiinae. The division was mainly based on palpi. This system was followed by Brunetti (1912) in his volume in the Fauna ofBritish India, Diptera Nematocera. He described 235 species of crane flies from India and adjoining countries. Alexander (1961) gave the detailed synonymy of the species described by Brunetti. Out of these, the types of 216 species are available in the National Zoological Collections of the Zoological Survey of India, Calcutta, which were redescribed by Joseph (1971-1979).

Alexander was the outstanding worker of world Tipulidae, who had worked for more than half a century on the family. He had contributed over 1000 papers and described over 10,000 species. His long series of papers in the Annals and Magazine of Natural History, London and Philippine Journal ofScience, Manila, are unparalleled in the history of Tipulidae taxonomy. Alexander and Alexander (1973) catalogued the crane flies from the Orient, which is a landmark in the taxonomy of these flies.

Distribution

Tipulids are well distribut~d in all the major faunal regions and subregions, with the largest number occurring in the Oriental and Neotropical regions. The species are abundant in tropical and temperate areas at moderate altitudes. The highest altitude at which crane flies have been collected is at about 5000 m. in Bolivian Andes, by Alexander (1962), with a wide variety of species distributed at altitudes lower than that, for example from Sikkim in India.

Estimation of Taxa

About 14,000 species of tipulids are known from the world. Alexander and Alexander (1973) recorded over 1300 species under 60 genera from India in 'A Catalogue of Diptera from the Oriental Region.' Subsequently some more additions have been made.

Expertise India

In ZSI

A. N. T. Joseph, ZSI, Marine Biological Station, 100, Santhome High Road, Madras ¬600028.

Abroad

P. Oosterbroek, Institute of Taxonomic' Zoology (Zoologisch Museum), University of Amsterdam, P.O. Box 20125, 1000 HC Amsterdam (Netherlands).

I. R. M., Tangelder, Institute of Taxonomic Zoology (Zoologisch Museum), University of Amsterdam, P.O. Box 20125, 1000 HC Amsterdam, (Netherlands).

Selected References

Alexander, C. P. 1961. Classification and synonymy of the crane flies described by Enrico Brunetti (Diptera: Families Ptychopteridae, Trichoceridae.and Tipulidae). Rec.lndian Mus. S9 19-34.

Alexander, C. P. &Alexander, M. M. 1973. Family Tipulidae, In : Delfinado and Hardy, A Catalog of Diptera of the Oriental Region Vol.l: 10-224. Univ. of Hawaii Press, Honolulu.

Brunetti, E. 1912. The Fauna ofBritish India including Ceylon and Burma, Diptera Nematocera: 581 pp., 12 pIs. Taylor &Francis, London.

Joseph, A. N. T. 1971-1979. The Brunetti types of Tipulidae (Diptera) in the collection of the Zoological Survey of India: Parts I & II, J. Ent. (B) 40 (2) : 121-131; B 42 (1) : 59¬70; Parts III to XIII, Oriental Ins. 8 (3) : 241-280; 9 (2) : 229-241; 10 (2) ! 215-266; 10 (3) : 383-391; 10 (4) : 557-565; 11 (1) : 5-16; 11 (3) : 421-448; 11(4) : 467-478; 12 (1) : 49-65; 12 (2): 143-156; 13 (1-2): 29-39.